An excellent source of fibre, folate and protein, the chickpea is one of the world’s first cultivated legumes. Canada is among the top five exporters of chickpeas, with the majority being grown in south-western Saskatchewan and south-eastern Alberta.

Popular food blogger Deb Perelman writes of this chickpea salad recipe, which is from The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook (Random House, 2012): “Sumac, a dark-red powder that tastes almost like sour paprika, is used a lot in Middle Eastern cooking and adds an extra dimension to the tart lemon-garlic dressing in this salad.”

Bal Arneson shares her take on classic Indian dishes in Bal’s Quick and Healthy Indian (Whitecap Books, 2011). Arneson’s recipe for Avocado Chickpea Salad delivers on the quick and healthy with a cardamom, cumin, and Spanish paprika dressing tossed with avocados, chickpeas and green onion.

This salad is easy to toss together and hearty enough to serve as dinner. Arugula and Swiss chard make up the base, which is topped with stone fruit, thinly sliced cucumber, celery and crunchy roasted chickpeas.

Romesco – a red pepper and nut-based Spanish sauce – serves as a delicious dip for high-protein, crunchy Chickpea Fries in this recipe from the now closed Ubuntu Restaurant in Napa (via By the Season and Oprah).

Peanut butter cookies get an extra protein and fibre boost from the addition of canned chickpeas in this recipe from the Saskatchewan Pulse Growers. Natural crunchy peanut butter works best but feel free to use what you have in your pantry.

The Stews

Break out the slow cooker for chef Eric Akis’ hearty Chickpea Stew with Apricots and Raisins from Everyone Can Cook Everything (Whitecap Books, 2012). Akis writes of the recipe, “This vegetarian stew is flavored North African–style with ingredients such as cumin, lemon and apricots. I like to serve it over hot couscous.”

The inspiration for this recipe is also from North Africa – the apricots are a nod to the cuisine of Morocco. The quinoa ups the protein content, and the apricots bring beta carotene in this stew from The Vegetarian’s Complete Quinoa Cookbook (Whitecap Books, 2012) edited by Mairlyn Smith.